Man Made

Something that always interests and amazes me in Britain is the incredible array of engineering that you see everywhere. Sure, there are castles and stately homes, but I am fascinated by structures like bridges, embankments, walls, tunnels, aquaducts and canals. In New Zealand our surrounding environment tends to be predominantly natural. Here in the UK, every inch of the environment seems to be man made.

The canals are one of these incredible man made structures. Before trains, cars and trucks, goods were transported around the country via the canals. Now, they are maintained more for leisure, and for their historical significance.
Each section of canal is level, and so to get up and down across the country, there are locks.

A boat enters the lock; the water fills up or empties out in the lock, depending on whether you are travelling uphill or down; the lock opens and the boat carries on along the next section of canal.

Many people live on canal boats, or narrowboats as they are called. Some don't look like they travel far any more. Living on a canal boat is inexpensive accommodation in England.

More about canals.